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S. D. TUCKER. SHEET DELIVERY APPARATUS FOR PRINTING MACHINES.

No. 253,325.. Patented Feb. 7,1882.

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N. PErERS. Pholwlilljognlphur. Washin ton. D. C,

(No Model.) 6 Sheet-Sheet 2.

S.D.TUGKER.

. SHEET DELIVERY APPARATUS FOR PRINTING MACHINES.

No. 253,325. Patented-HEebV'Y, 1882.

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'6 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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Patented Feb."7,1882.

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S. D. TUCKER.

SHEET DELIVERY APPARATUS FOR PRINTING MACHINES.

Patented Feb. 7,1882.

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6 Sheets-Sheet 5.

(No Model.)

I s. D. TUCKER. SHEET DELIVERY APPARATUS'FOR PRINTING MACHINES.

Patented Feb..7, 1882.

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' SHEET DELIVERY APPARATUS FOR BRINTING MACHINES.

' Patented Feb. 7.18 82.

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UNITED STATES PATENT Ortren.

STEPHEN D TUCKER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SHEET-DELIVERY APPARATUS FOR PRINTING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 253,325, dated February 7, 1882.

Application filedJune 28,1880. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, STEPHEN D. TUCKER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, county of New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet Delivery Apparatus for Printing- Machines, fully described and represented'in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the'same.

ln said drawings, Figure 1 illustrates aside elevation, Fig. 2 a plan or top view, and Fig. 3 a longitudinal sectional elevation, of a machine embodying my improvements. Fig. 4 represents the same as combined with a webprinting machine. Fig. 5 illustrates the same as combined with a modified form ofgathering apparatus. Figs. 6 and 7 represent the same as combined with a rotating gathering-cylin- Fig. 8 illustrates the same as combined with a rotary folding-machine.

The object of thisinvention is the production of a machine by the operation of which successive sheets may be brought together-for subsequentmanipulation. Thishasheretoforebeen accomplished by whatisknown asinsettingby feeding separate sheets in opposite directions, so as to lie over each other in themaehine which is to further operate upon the two sheets. Another means for accomplishing the resultis by a gathering, collecting, or accumulating apparatus, whereby sheets successively led" to said apparatus would be collected or accumulated there to any predetermined number,-and this body of sheets then be stripped from said cylinder in a single pack or body. Another mode of accomplishing this end consists of a setof outer and a set of inner tapes stretched so as to form a single reversed pathway, provided with means for entering sheets therein, where they areheld by their margins, and from whichvtapes theyrare detached or delivered, either singly or in sets, by means of a detaching device pressing the sheets downward out of the embrace of the tapes.

The present invention consistsin an arrangement of tapes whereby two pathways of travel for sheets are provided, said pathways acting to superpose sheets or packs of sheets fed into them alternately, whereby the collection or association of such sheets is accomplished, and

in combination therewith of a rotating sheetmanipulating mechanism, whereby the sheets are first collected or folded, and the combination, with such pathways, of a sheet-manipulatin g device, whereby the sheets are removed from said pathways.

The invention also embraces combinations of minor parts, all of which is too fully hereinafter pointed out and explained to need further preliminary description.

The simplest form of this machine will now be described. p

The receiving-point for the sheets which are to be manipulated by it is between the rollers 19 and 20. Endless upper tapes, 30, run from the roller 19 over the roller 20, under a roller, 40, over a roller, 37, and over a roller, 32, from which they return rearwardly, and pass around a roller, 33, over a roller, 34, and return to the roller 19 over bending-rollers 35 36.. One companion set of endless lower tapes,'3l, run from a roller, 37, around the roller 32. Another companion set of lower endless tapes, 41, run from the roller 20, under the roller 33, over the roller 34, and return around a roller, 38, and a bending-roller, 39. These rollers are grooved at proper points to correctly guide the tapes, but may, of course, have substituted for them suitablepulleys arranged at proper distances apart upon suitable shafts. These rollers are all journaled in the side frames, 21 22, and such of them as are required to be driven are supplied with toothed wheels gearing them together, so as to run in proper directions, as indicated by their arrows. These tapes are thus so arrangedas toform two paths of travel for thesheets. One(constitutedbythetapes303l) extends from the roller under the roller 40, thenhorizontally out from the upper surface of the roller 37, and returns around the roller 32 toward said roller 37 in a substantially horizontal plane. The other path of travel for the sheets is constituted by. the returning-tapes andhtheir companion tapes 41, and this path extends downward from the roller 20 under the roller 33, thence over the roller '34, from the upper surface of which it extends horizontally toward the roller 38, thus occupying aplane beneaththat of the upper path of travel.

At a point between the rollers 40 33 and behind the roller 20 there is located a set of switches, 15, the upper sides of which are curved, so that they may, when in proper position, coincide with the surface of the roller 40, and their lower sides are curved, so that they may, when in proper position, coincide with the surface of the roller 20, said switches being thus provided with three pointsa central one, 1, an upper one, 2, and a lower one, 3. These switches are separate pieces set upon a common shaft, and provided with a rock-arm, 16, by which they are vibrated through a rod, 17, and a cam, 18, said rod embracing the shaft of said cam, and having a stud or roller, 10, that rides upon said cam and is retracted by a spring, the cam being driven in proper time by means of a toothed wheel, 73, on its shaft, that meshes with a pinion, 72, on the shaft of roller 33. As these switches are vibrated their points 1 2 3 will move beneath the peripheries of the rollers or enter circumferential grooves cut in said rollers for their reception, thus standing with their upper faces coincident with the periphery of the roller 40, as in Fig. 3, or with their lower faces concident with the roller 20, as in Fig. 1, but with a slight space between their faces and said rollers. When standing in the position shown in Fig. 3 their points 1 will be below the periphery of the roller 20, to guide a sheet between their upper surfaces and that of the roller 40. \Vhen the switches are in this position a sheet entered into the nip of the rollers 19 20 will be directed between the tapes 30 and the upper surfaces of these switches, and be directed over the roller 37, so as to travel outward in the upper path constituted by the tapes 30 31. These tapes will carry said sheet onward around the roller 32 and return it in a direction toward the point of entrance until it is arrested by a stop, 12, that is arranged to intercept this path of travel at a proper point with respect to the mechanisms that are to remove the sheet from the said pathway. When these switches are vibrated into the position shown in Fig. 1 a sheet ontered into the nip of the rollers 19 and 20 will be guided between the curved lower faces of these switches and the roller 20 to and between the tapes 30 4.1, constituting the lower path of travel, by which tapes said sheet will be carried under the roller 33, over the roller 34, and thence outward below the upper path of travel until said sheet is arrested by a stop, 13, that is properly placed to intercept its leading end. The sheet in thus traveling passes under stop 12,which is sufficiently high so as not to obstruct it. Now, it will be apparent that, if these switches 15 are vibrated from one position to the other at periods of time equaling that required for the passage of a single sheet, they will stand so as to guide alternate sheets into alternate paths, and the paths being made of the proper lengths, the first sheet entered into the upper or long path will arrive at the stop 12 at about the same time that the next succeeding sheet entered into the lower path will arrive against the stop 13, and

so on. Thetwo sheets carried againstthestops 12 and 13, being thus conveyed so as to lie one above the other, will be in proper position with respect thereto to be acted upon by a fly or other delivery mechanism placed there to effect their removal from these paths.

In this exemplitication of the invention a folding device is shown as the removing mechanism. This folding device consists of a vibrating folding-blade, 23, that is vertically moved to coact with a pair of folding-rollers, 21 25, that are placed beneath these paths of travel for the sheets. It will be understood that this folding-blade 23 may be vibrated or reciprocated by any properly-constructed mechanism, and that the co-operating folding-rollers 24 25 will be suitably rotated to coact therewith, as is well nnderstood by those familiar with folding-machines. It is apparent that a rotating folding mechanism might be combined in like manner with these paths of travel for the sheets.

Though this apparatus may receive its sheets from any folding mechanism that will supply them, in practical use such sheets will preferably come direct from a printing mechanism, or from some mechanism which is supplied direct from the printing-machinc,and manipulates the sheets before they are entered into this delivery mechanism. Such printing mechanism will preferably be a web-printing machine, which machine, after printing a web of paper upon one or both its sides, discharges the same from between cutting-cylinders, as 26 27, which are geared together and furnishedwith the proper cutters to sever or partially sever such web into sheets or short lengths, as

is now commonly done. In adapting this delivery mechanism for attachment to or co-operation with such printing-machine but slight modifications of the form shown in Figs. 1 to 3 are required, and this will be apparent from Fig. 4, in which the tapes 30 are shown as extending from a roller, 28,journaledjust in front of the cutting-cylinders, and passing thence over the roller 20, under the roller 40, and returning over roller 4.0; and the tapes 41 extend from a tape-roller,29, placed beneath the roller 28, thence over the roller 20, and finally return under the roller 34 to the roller 29. In all other respects these tapes are disposed as is shown in Fig. 3.

This delivering mechanism may be suitably driven by gearing, as the wheels 95 96 97, which connect the cutting-cylinder 27 with a wheel, 98, on the outer end of the shaft of the roller 33, and the wheels 95 98 are so proportioned as to make the tapes 30 31 41 run at a somewhat greater surface speed than the printing-machine has, so that the web, when nipped by the tapes where they pass over the roller 20, may be drawn rapidly enough onward to divide the web on its partially-severed line, or, if the web has been completely severed, separate the forward portion thereof and advance it rapidly enough to provide a space between as is common, by conductors 49.

it and the leading end of the web, thus separating the sheets so formed a sufficient distance apart, when they are entered in to the delivery mechanism, to permit the proper operation of the switches 15. In Fig. 5 the several parts are so organized that the upper pathway is given the necessary length by being extended upwardly. The tapes 30, which are supposed to run around a roller, as 28 of Fig. 4, pass under the roller 40, thence upward over the roller 32, thence downward under the roller 57, from whence they return over the roller 47. The tapes 31 run from the roller 37 up over the roller 32, downward under the roller 57, thence outward under the roller 35, and return around the roller 36. The tapes 40, which are supposed to run from a roller, as 29 of Fig. 4, pass thence over the roller 20 and outward above spanned by the conductor 67.. The switches.

15 are arranged, as before, to control the entrance-point between the rollers 40 20, and thus cause the sheets to enter the long path of-travel which the tapes 30 31 have, and tinally to pass outward between such tapes until arrested by the stop 13 in a proper position between the folding mechanisms, or, when said switches are in the position shown in this figure, to cause the sheets to pass beneath the same and be carried directly over the folding-rollers 24 25 and against said stop 13, such sheet thus lying in the lower pathway and directly beneath the sheet which lies in the upper pathway, the length of the pathways being such that the two sheets are brought against the stop at the same time and into position to be simultaneously manipulated by a single operation of the folding-blade 23.

, In Fig. 6 a collecting mechanism of the cylinder form is represented as interposed between this delivery mechanism and the source of supply of the sheets. This rotary collecting mechanism consists ot'a cylinder, 50, which is supplied with the tapes and switches neces sary to it as a collecting mechanism. These tapesconsist of a set, 42, that extend from a 43, run from a roller, as 29 of Fig. 4, to and return over a roller, 48. These. last tapes, though coacting with the tapes 42 to conduct the sheets from the cutting-cylinders to the collecting-cylinder, do not reach the latter cylinder; but the space between their roller 48 and the periphery of the cylinder 50 is spanned,

A great portion of this cylinder 50 is embraced by tapes 44, which run from a roller, 54, around a portion of the surface of the cylinder, and return over a roller, 53, placed beneath the conductors 49 and under the guiding-roller 55.

The space between the roller 40 and the roller 54 is covered by switches 11, the front faces of which are curved to eoin ide with and be a slight distance from the periphery of said cylinder when the switches stand as shown, and the pointsl 2 3 of which switchesenter into grooves formed circumferentially in the rollers 40 20 54 and the cylinder 50 as said switches are vibrated to direct sheets around said cylinder 50 or strip the same therefrom, as is common and as will hereinafter more fully appear. Successive sheets fed to thiscylinder and carried onto its surface between the tapes 42 and conductors 49 will, when the switches stand as shown in this figure, be directed around with the cylinder. When the head of the first sheet passing around this cylinder reaches the entrance-point a second sheet will be received upon it, and the two will pass around, the cylinder in like manner receiving, if desired, a third and fourth, and so on. When theproper numberof sheets have thus been collected and the tail ends of such collected sheets have passed the points 1 of the switches 11, said switches will be rocked so that their points 1 will lie within the grooves-in the periphery of the cylinder50, thus entering beneath the heads of the pack of sheets, thereby causing such pack to follow the upper faces of the switches and to be stripped or directed ott' from the cylinder 50 into a free channel, the entrance of which is formed by the roller 40 and the upper faces of these switches. t

t It has heretofore been the practice to depend wholly upon the tapes to secure the collected sheets in proper position upon the collectingcylinder. This is practical; but where perfect register of two or more collected sheets is desired, as where said sheets are to be subsequently folded as component parts of a single product, it is necessary to secure the exact register of the sheets as theyare collected. This is here accomplished by a series of pins, as 4, that project from the cylinder and impale the several sheets collected upon it, thus holding them in proper relative position so long as they remain upon the collecting-cylinder. The delivery mechanism proper, as shown in this figure, is provded, as before, with two sheet- 30 31 41, which carry the sheets, while traveling in opposite directions, to a proper position between the folding-blade'23 and the foldingrollers 24 25, said sheets being properly arrested by the steps 12 13, as before explained. The tapes 30, as here arranged, start from a roller, 57, around a roller, 32, under a roller, 58, and return around the. rollers 59 36. The tapes 31 pass around the rollers 37 32, and the tapes 41 run from the roller 20, under the roller 33, and return around the roller 38. Y

The space between the rollers 40 57 is covered by a set of conductors, 61, the ends of which lie within the peripheries of saidiollers. The set of switches 15 are arranged substan-.

tially as before .describethbutare modified to conducting pathways, constituted by the tapes span the space between the points 2 of the switches 11 and the tape-roller37, the pointsl of said switches entering grooves in the rollers 40 20. Their points 2 enter grooves in the roller 37, and their points 3 grooves in the rollers 20 33, as before. These switches, as well as the switches 11, are rocked at suitable periods of time by means of properly shaped and driven earns, the structure of which, being well understood and like that already illustrated and described, is not again illustrated in this figure. When the switches 15 stand in the position shown in Fig. 6 the sheets collected upon the cylinder 50 and guided therefrom by the switches 11, when in their forward position, will be directed between the conductors 61 and the faces of the switches 15 into the nip of the tapes 3 0 31, forming the upper sheet-conducting pathway, and will thereby be carried onward until arrested by the stop 12, so that they lie over the folding-rollers 24 25. As the succeeding pack of sheets is stripped from the cylinder 50, it being understood that the switches 11' have been held in the position shown in Fig.6long enough to collect the same, and then vibrated forward to direct the sheets off from said cylinder, and the switches 15 having in the mean time made an upward movement, the said pack of sheets will pass between the roller 40 and the upper faces of the switches 11, and be intercepted by the points 1 of the switches 15 and directed between the curved lower faces of said switches 15 and the roller 20 and into the nip of the tapes 41 with the roller 33. The said pack of sheets is thereby directed into the lower sheet-conducting pathway and carried thereby outward until arrested by the stop 13, when they will lie over the folding-rollers 24 25, immediately beneath the pack of sheets lying in the upper sheet-conducting pathway. Now, from the point where the tapes 42 leave the collecting-cylinder 50, to return around the roller 40 through the free channel, to where the tapes 31 touch the roller 57 the distance is a little less than the length of the pack of sheets being collected, so that when a pack of sheets is directed through said free channel its -leading end is caught between the roller 57 and the tapes 31 an instant before its rear end is liberated from between the cylinder 50 and tapes 42. In this modification the tapes 30 31 and the rollers they pass around are entirely independent of the tapes 41, and their speed of travel is so reduced that the pack of sheets they convey will arrive at the stop 12 at about the same time that the succeeding pack will arrive at the stop 13. The two packs of sheets may then be simultaneously doubled into the nip of the roller 24 by a single descent of the blade 23, as before explained.

It will be apparent that two, three, or any desired number of sheetsmay be collected upon the cylinder 50 and packs so composed be delivered successively into the upper and lower sheet-conducting pathways. Thus by this arrangementof mechanisms any number ofsheets may be brought together to be folded as a single product. In Fig. 7 is shown a modified arrangement of these combined mechanisms, in which the switches 15 and 11 are both arranged to directly co-operate with the cylinder 50 in stripping the sheets therefrom, and in which the upper and lower sheet-conducting channels lead outward, one above theother, directly over the folding-rollers 24 25. In this arrangement the tapes 42, leavingthe cylinder 50, pass under the roller 40, over the roller 37, and return around the roller 57. The tapes 31 run from the roller 37 under the rollers 57 32, and return around the roller 36. The tapes 41 run from the roller 20 and return around the roller 38. In other respects the taping is the same as in Fig. 6; but in this instance, instead of upper tapes co-operating with the tapes 31 41 to form two pathways, conductors 67 are used.

The switches 15 are formed with curved upper and forward faces, and their points 1 play in grooves in the cylinder 50 and roller 40, and their points 2 play in grooves in the rollers 40 37. The switches 11 have curved upper and forward faces, and their points 1 play in grooves in the cylinder 50, and are constructed so that their forward faces form continuations of the forward faces of the switches 15. Their points 2 play in grooves in the roller 20 and their points 3 play in grooves in the roller 54.

The cylinder 50 is capable of collecting any num ber of sheets, as before described, and when the predetermined number has been collected the switches 15, which, together with the switches 11, stand during the collecting operation with their forward faces coincident with the periphery of the cylinder, will be properly vibrated forward, so as to stand in the position shown in Fig. 7, and thereby strip or guide the pack of collected sheets off from said cylinder and cause it to pass under the roller 40, over the roller 37, under the roller 57, and thence outwardly over the folding-rollers 24 25 until it is arrested by the stop 13. As soon as the pack of sheets has cleared the switches 15 said switches will be rocked rearwardly, so that their forward faces will again stand coincident with the periphery of the cylinder 50 and aid in the collection of another pack of sheets. When this pack has been collected the switches 11 will be vibrated forward, so that their points 1 will enter the grooves in the cylinder 50, and thereby intercept the pack of sheets and guide it over their upper curved faces, and thence onto the tapes 41, which will carry it outward over the rollers 24 25 until it is arrested by the stop 13 under the preceding pack, which has in the meantime been lying against the stop waiting for it, the two packs of collected sheets thus being brought into proper superposed position to be folded together as a single product by the simple descent of the blade 23. As soon as the tails of the second pack of sheets clears the switches 15said switches will be vibrated rearwardly to cause the collection of a third pack of sheets, which done,

- the described operation'will be repeated.

In Fig. 8 the apparatus is shown with a further modified form of this delivery apparatus, in which mechanisms are supplied by which the sheets to be associated and delivered together are first folded transversely. This is accomplished by means of a rotatingfoldingblade, 80, that is supported by a cylinder, as 50, the latter also having gripers 90, by which the leading end of the sheet is controlled. The construction and operation of this sheetmanipulating mechanism, whereby sheets are folded transv'ersely,are like thatfully set forth in Patent No. 171,196, dated December 14,1875, and need no explanation here. The sheet-con: ducting tapes 30 run from the roller 40 under the roller 32, over the roller 35, and thence un The tapes 30 .31 are thus so disposed as to form a continuous pathway, into which all the sheets enter, and which has an upper and a lower portion, the latter of which runs rearwardly. The sheets, in passing from the upper to the lower portion of the pathway, are guided from the roller 32 to the roller 84 by the lower curved surface of a set of suitably-placed vibrating switches, 15. The long points of these switches are so shaped as to form sheet-stops, and they are vibrated alternately into and out of the upper pathway by a suitable cam, which is so shaped and timed as to rise to the position shown by the dotted lines and let one sheet pass on into the lower pathway and be arrested over the folding-rollers 24 25 by the stop 12, and to fall to the position shown by the full lines and arrest the succeeding sheet in the upper pathway directly over the first sheet; and the length of the pathway is such that the two sheets will arrive at their respective stops at about the same time, and they will then be in position for simultaneous delivery by the folding-blade 23. A sheet fed to the cylinder 50 by the tapcs'42 43, as before described with the collecting-cylinder, will be seized by the gripers 90 and carried around upon the same until its central portion arrives before the rollers 40 20, when the gripers will release it and the folding-blade 80 will operate to double it between the said rollers. In this doubled condition the sheet will be carried outward by the tapes 30 31, and the switches, being raised above said tapes, as shown by the dotted lines, will guide the sheet around the roller 84 and rearward over the folding-rollers 24 25 until it is arrested by the stop 12. The succeeding sheet folded by the blade 80 of the cylinder 50 between the rollers 40 20 will be carried by the tapes 30 31 outward until it is arrested by the switches 15,which, as soon as the first sheet clears them, will be vibrated into the position shown in Fig. 8 to intercept the said sheet. The two folded sheets will then lie one above the other over the folding-rollers 24 25, and be doubled or folded simultaneously at right angles to their first folds by a single descent of the folding-blade 23. In passing through the rollers 2425 these foldedsheets may betrimmed on their edges by the rotary cutters, if desired.

The folding-blade 23 and folding-rollers 24 25 may be omitted, if desired, and a fly substituted on the device for removing the sheets from the pathways, and'the form of this tly may be that shown in the English Patent No. 3,056 for the year 1875.

I do not herein claim a cylinder provided with means for collecting many sheets upon its surface, and with pins for securing a proper register of such collected sheets, this device being the invention of another What is claimed isl. The combination, with sets of tapes properly sustained so as to constitute two paths of travel for the sheets, and provided with an entrance-point between rollers, as 40 20, of a switching device for directing sheets alternatelyinto said paths of travel, whereby successive sheets are superposed in said path ways, and a detaching device for removing said sheets, all substantially'as described.

2. The combination of the cylinder 50 and the devices with which itis supplied, whereby the sheets are primarily acted upon, with sets V of tapes properly sustained so as to constitute two paths of travel, and provided with an entrance-point between rollers, as 40 20, a switching device for directing sheets alternately into said paths of travel, and means for removing said sheets simultaneously therefrom, all substantially as described.

3. The combination, with sets of tapes properly sustained so as to constitute separate long and short paths of travel leading fromthe same, and sheet-conducting devices whereby successive sheets are superposed, of a folding mechanism for delivering said sheets simultaneously as a single product,substantially as described. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

STEPHEN D. TUCKER.

' Witnesses: CHAS. W. CARPENTER, ERNEST VOORHIS.

IIO 

